Less than 24 hours into launching a GameChanger Charity Drive in celebration of 20 years of the Tomb Raider franchise, GameChanger has had to halt donations to their campaign due to "overwhelming demand", causing merchandise selling out far ahead of schedule. For a brief time following their first update to the campaign on March 29th, donations were still being accepted, despite notice that donators would no longer be rewarded with a Tomb Raider code. As of the morning of March 30th, donations have been suspended completely.
Originally, the campaign was offering a PC copy of the 2013 release of Tomb Raider for a mere $1 donation, presumably attributing to the sudden influx of donations following massive media-wide exposure. Donations of $20 were entered into a drawing for the Collector's Edition of Rise of the Tomb Raider, Xbox One console and more, while $50 donations earned more on top of that including personalized Thank You Letter, poster, swag bag and more. Less predictably, both of these more expensive options sold out just as quickly.
Debuting in 1996, the celebration of Lara Croft 20 years after her initial rise was part of a joint effort with developing studio Crystal Dynamics. The premature ending to the campaign comes as a surprise given the event was originally meant to last until April 5th, 2016. Though the "Event Overview" section of the campaign page specifically states "Tues March 29th – April 5th (or until supplies run out)", it is currently unknown why attempts to donate have been completely halted, as opposed to initial efforts to keep donations open after running out of Tomb Raider codes.
While attempts to donate via the Square Enix page on GameChangerCharity.com will now result in an error message, generous donators may continue to donate to GameChanger through their primary fundraiser website. Current #BuySmiles donors will recieve one of a selection of Steam codes for donations of $10 or more: Hitman Absolution, Deux Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Massive Chalice, and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja STORM Revolution. This offer lasts through April 2.
We have reached out to GameChanger for comment on the matter and will update when we have more information.
